The combination of a very slow moving cold front and copious moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Tammy produced persistent very heavy rain across the Lehigh Valley from around Midnight EDT on the 8th into the afternoon of the 8th. Storm totals averaged around ten inches and caused widespread poor drainage flooding as well as flooding along most of the smaller creeks in the valley. In spite of the tremendous rainfall, no flooding was reported along gage sites of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers. The worst reported flooding was along the Little Lehigh Creek in Lehigh County and the Bushkill Creek in Palmer and Fork Townships in Northampton County. In Allentown (Lehigh County), firefighters saved two boys clinging to the top of a tree in the swollen and flooding Cedar Creek. The Little Lehigh Creek divided the city in half. A retaining wall collapsed behind an apartment and several families were rescued. In Trexlertown (Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County), six families were evacuated from a mobile home park because of a flooding creek. A 42-year-old male motorist died in a traffic accident that was heavy rain related. In Lower Macungie Township (Lehigh County), flooding along the Little Lehigh Creek badly damaged the Wildlands Conservancy in Lower Macungie Township (Lehigh County). The first floor of the building was flooded as pick-up trucks and computers were damaged. Three major roads in the county were closed because of flooding. In Bethlehem (Lehigh/Northampton County), both the Monocacy and Saucon Creeks flooded. Along the Saucon Creek, 25 homes were flooded and firefighters helped evacuate them. The Monocacy Creek flooded the 18th Century Industrial Quarter and closed many roads. The sewage treatement plant overflowed and sent wastewater directly into the Lehigh River. In Northampton County, An eighteen foot deep sinkhole developed by one home near the Bushkill Creek in Palmer Township). The Stocker Mill Bridge was closed over the creek. The Schoeneck Creek also flooded. In Forks Township, flooding along the Bushkill Creek flooded Bushkill Park for the third time in thirteen months. Bushkill Drive was under four feet of water. The creek also surrounded the J.G. Mills Apartments.  A mudslide clsoed one street in Easton. Sections of seven major roads in the county were closed due to flooding including Pennsylvania State Routes 512 and 191.  The Little Lehigh Creek near Allentown (Salisbury Township/Allentown border) was above its 6 foot flood stage from 1209 p.m. EDT on the 8th through 1016 a.m. EDT on the 9th. It crested at 9.69 feet at 445 p.m. EDT on the 8th. Farther downstream, the Little Lehigh Creek at the 10th Street Bridge within Allentown was above its 8 foot flood stage from 314 p.m. EDT on the 8th through 645 a.m. EDT on the 9th. It crested at 11.05 feet at 745 p.m. EDT on the 8th. The Monocacy Creek in Bethlehem was above its 4.5 foot flood stage from 1049 a.m. EDT on the 8th through Noon EDT on the 9th. It crested at 6.64 feet at 2 a.m. EDT on the 9th.  While the Delaware River did not flood, the large within bank rise of the river disturbed coal ash deposits at the bottom of the river and caused arsenic levels to rise above acceptable levels for two days.Storm totals included 11.70 inches in Forks Township (Northampton County), 10.10 inches in Hellertown (Northampton County), 10.00 inches in Coopersburg (Lehigh County), 9.69 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 8.66 inches in Walnutport (Northampton County), 8.20 inches in Plainfield (Northampton County), 8.07 inches in Catasauqua (Lehigh County) and 7.98 inches in Macungie (Northampton County). The 8.08 inches of rain that fell on the 8th at the Lehigh Valley international Airport established a new all-time daily record that surpassed the 6.37 inches that fell with Hurricane Floyd in 1999.  This heavy rain helped the state of Pennsylvania have its second wettest October on record dating back to 1895. The statewide average precipitation total was 6.49 inches, 3.31 inches wetter than normal. Only 1976 (6.59 inches) was wetter. But, the monthly precipitation total of 13.16 inches (9.83 inches wetter than normal) at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, was not only the wettest October on record, but also was the wettest month on record. The cold front moved from near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at 8 p.m. EDT on the 7th, to the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania at 2 a.m. EDT on the 8th, to the Poconos and Berks County in Pennsylvania and just west of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland at 8 a.m. EDT on the 8th. The cold front stalled as waves of low pressure road northeast along it. At 2 p.m. EDT on the 8th, the cold front just edged into northwestern New Jersey and the Philadelphia northwest suburbs and was still west of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. At 8 p.m. EDT that evening the cold front barely moved into the Philadelphia New Jersey suburbs and the Delmarva Peninsula. The cold front and waves of low pressure cleared the Delaware and New Jersey coasts between Midnight EDT and 2 a.m. EDT on the 9th. The slow movement and stalling coupled with an unstable air mass and tropical moisture associated with Tammy helped enhance the torrential downpours. The flooding would have been even worse if not for the unseasonably dry weather that preceded this event from the middle of August.

Flash Flood in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 08-OCT-05 07:30:00 to 08-OCT-05 12:30:00 (EST)
Location: COUNTYWIDE
Property damage: 100K
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flash Flood in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 08-OCT-05 07:30:00 to 08-OCT-05 12:30:00 (EST)
Location: COUNTYWIDE
Property damage: 100K
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Flood in LEHIGH, PENNSYLVANIA
From 08-OCT-05 12:30:00 to 09-OCT-05 11:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER

Flood in NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA
From 08-OCT-05 12:30:00 to 09-OCT-05 11:00:00 (EST)
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER